


Christiana Thorndyke

by Fiobri



Series: Eternal Cycle [19]
Category: Sonic X
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Female Chris Thorndyke, Friendship, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reincarnation, Self-Insert, oc-insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24857899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiobri/pseuds/Fiobri
Summary: When you lose everything for the fifth time you start to wonder if caring is worth it. For some reason it's still hard not to get attached...Cycle 5. Trick Cycle, Sonic X.
Relationships: Miles "Tails" Prower & Chris Thorndyke, Miles "Tails" Prower & Chuck Thorndyke, Miles "Tails" Prower & Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog & Chris Thorndyke
Series: Eternal Cycle [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1314257
Comments: 17
Kudos: 33





	1. Introducing the Child

**Author's Note:**

> Aaand yet another Cycle start. This one is directly after Granddaughter of a Phantom Thief. For those wondering about a Cycles timeline... I'm thinking of posting one next. Cycles in chronological order. The 20th in the series seems like a good spot for it, right?

Christiana Thorndyke was a peculiar child. She was the daughter of a famous actress and a successful businessman, the president of the world's largest software company. Her family owned a mansion where she lived with her Grandpa, butler, and maid. She went to a good school and had good grades. 

All that might pass as relatively normal. 

She wasn't, though. Normal, that is. Her grades were perfect. She invented new things in her spare time. Made computer coding and softwares. Some of it was being sold by her father. She was strong for a child and had sharp reflexes. She learned fast. Faster than any recorded child before her. She won a gymnastic competition meant for 12-year-olds when she was seven. Painted hypnotic landscapes and objects whenever a fancy hit. She'd been eight. Learned algebra before she turned five. Read books at three. 

Prodigy. That's what they said. But… she herself didn't seem to think so. 

Chris was mature. Acted twice her age. And sometimes her eyes seemed older than the oldest person on the planet. She was melancholy, grieving even when she hadn't lost anyone. She was famous in her own right. Many seemed to envy her. She was good at faking smiles. 

Lonely. She was cripplingly lonely and distracted herself from that by doing anything and everything she could think of. 

Sometimes she was reckless and didn't seem to care about what happened to her. Like the one time with bullies that landed her into a hospital. She usually snapped out of those spells easily enough. 

Drifting. It looked like she was drifting without a purpose, a direction. Like she lacked the ability to feel anything but loneliness and numbness most of the time. 

It was only when she was twelve that something seemed to make her attached to reality again. 

The adventure started with a sonic boom, a splash, and Chris jumping to a pool to save an alien hedgehog in the middle of the night. 

xXXx

"Are you okay?", the girl asked, concerned as the alien coughed up water. 

"Yeah, thanks to you", he answered with a grin. 

She smiled, "I'm glad" 

"You're not surprised?", he sounded curious. 

The girl sat back and looked at the light polluted night sky, "...It's not like  _ I _ can say how the world should work" 

That was a weighted remark that left a heavy silence behind. She blinked out of her thoughts, turning to him with a slightly enigmatic smile. 

"I'm Christiana Thorndyke, but just Chris will do" 

The alien smiled back, "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog" 

"Nice to meet you, Sonic" 

xXXx

Chris got Sonic settled into the guest room next to her own room before retreating to think. She flopped on her way too big bed, staring at the ceiling with conflicted eyes. 

_ 'What do we do, Rina?' _ , the girl asked her other self with a troubled thought. 

There was a long pause. Neither seemed to know. Neither was willing to say. Chris turned over to her stomach. 

_ '...Maybe we don't need to do anything' _ , Rina finally settled on. 

Chris examined the bubbling feelings in her chest and buried her face in her pillow. Her hands clenched on fabric. Shaking. 

"I'm scared", she whispered to no one. 

There was a moment of silence as the reincarnated girls contemplated. 

_ 'You're also looking forward to this' _ , Rina said finally. 

No one wanted to voice the next conclusion. The question that nowadays always plagued them when meeting new people. Making new friends. Getting  _ attached _ . 

They had a chance to be happy again. But for how long? 


	2. Rescue Commence!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Chris finding Cream and starting a rescue operation.

Morning came swiftly and Chris was left talking to her guest after sneaking them both breakfast. It was time to make a plan of action. Sonic didn't seem much the type for plans, living in the moment and all, but he could agree that just waltzing out would cause more of a hassle than it was worth. But first was evaluating the situation in the first place. 

"How did you even end up here?", Chris asked. 

The answer was seven magic gems, a machine gone wonky, and lots of shining light. She wondered. Then got a computer up and started scouring the internet and news that had yet to be released. After adjusting the search algorithms she got a hit. 

"It's a bunny girl and a blue little floaty guy", she informed with a frown, "They're getting taken to Area 99…" 

"What? Why?", Sonic straightened from his relaxed slouch against the bedframe. 

"Research, I'd guess", Chris muttered, "You have super speed. What's she got going for her?" 

The hedgehog's hand clenched into a fist, "She can fly… but she's just a _kid!_ They're taking her in as a research subject!?" 

This wasn't good. Chris _knew_ these kinda aliens from her past lives' fiction. Vaguely, but she knew a bit of them. They were nice. Mostly. And the rabbit really _was_ just a kind hearted kid. These people had no _right_ to do this without checking for sentience or anything. Not without proof of hostility. They needed to get her out of there. 

A plan started forming in her mind as she nodded in answer, mouth set in a thin line before she spoke. 

"Let's break her out" 

Sonic blinked before a smirk formed on his face. He probably hadn't expected such a prompt from her. She was glad she said it before he did something like run off without directions. 

xXXx

To say that her grandfather Chuck was surprised when she introduced him to Sonic was an understatement. She smoothed things over quickly, throwing in her findings and having him get her blueprints even as she searched for the location. 

"We need more satellites with better cameras", she grumbled to herself as she hacked her way through security and data while looking over a grainy black and white picture. 

Sonic was pacing around, waiting for them to be ready. He didn't have to wait _too_ long. Only twenty minutes later they knew approximately where Cream and Cheese were being held. She grinned as she basically ordered Chuck to drive over after he tinkered with some tech that Sonic could use to go through the place. She packed her slightly clunky laptop and hopped into the car. 

"Sonic, stay with us for a bit; we need to give some explanations on the security", she said as they started driving as fast as the limits allowed. 

Then she and Chuck ran through the systems they found relevant. They could shut off the movement sensors and maybe the lasers from afar if he could set up some antenna looking thing inside the Area. Getting the (younger) kids out without activating a lockdown was near impossible. At least they didn't have to worry about lasers for long. 

With things briefly explained, Chris gave Sonic the earpiece infrared thing with a camera installed. 

"This way we see what you see", she said with a small grin, "Easier to switch things on and off as you need it" 

"Heh. Not bad, Chris", Sonic complemented as he put the thing on, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got kids to save!" 

The girl was expecting it when he zoomed off but couldn't help but feel impressed and giddy at the speed. 

"Go, Sonic!", she cheered through the comms as she watched the screen that was but a blur. 

It took moments to reach the desired destination. The hedgehog easily passed the hurdles, barely needing directions that she gave him rapidly. Chuck switched off the movement sensors as Chris took care of not getting traced back to the car that was now halfway near the destination. The car was mostly so they could get Cream and Cheese out of the way if Sonic had to distract pursuers. 

In the end breaking in was easy, cameras avoided easily through speed and video loops. Getting Cream and Cheese out of the cell they'd been waiting for research to start required breaking things, though. That started an alarm. 

" _Can you-_ ", Sonic started. 

"On it. Can't do a thing about the doors, though" 

The cameras stopped shooting lasers. Sonic let out a noise of appreciation. Then he blurred forward and got to a suitable exit location… just as it got locked down. 

"Ugh. It's fine, go left. There's staircases up and walls thin enough to burst through", she instructed. 

" _Gotcha_ ", he said and was off. 

Then her grandfather found something interesting. She looked the grainy picture over and recognized Tails' plane flying towards the place. Her mouth twitched into a relieved smile. 

"Sonic. There's a blue biplane heading your way and I don't think it's from Earth", she said through the comms. 

" _The Tornado?",_ he voiced, a happy lilt to his voice, " _Tails made it here too!"_

She hummed, "He'll be there in half a minute. Can you hitch a ride with him?" 

He gave a confident yes and she concluded that the car wasn't needed then. Chuck turned them back and she watched as the camera showed Sonic bursting through the wall and landing on a plane mid jump. It was nothing short of cool, even if she'd managed similar stunts in her past life. Being a phantom thief gave you _ideas_ on how to break into buildings. 

She ignored the pang in her chest with practiced ease. There was a _reason_ she called her grandfather in this life Chuck and not Grandpa. 

"Could you give this to Tails? He's the tech guy you told me about, yeah?" 

Sonic was amenable and soon she was talking to a twin tailed fox. 

" _Hello?_ " 

"Hey, Chris here. Sonic's new friend. Can you read Earth coordinates?" 

An affirmative reply. She rattled one off and asked if he could get there, telling him it was her house. 

"Don't worry about satellite pictures, I can swap them out easily enough" 

" _Satellite pictures?_ " 

"There's lots of camera satellites that map and monitor the planet", she explained, "My father owns some of them" 

" _Wow, the entire planet? Really?_ " 

She laughed, "Well, almost. We can talk about stuff in person soon. There's a driveway that could be a possible landing spot. See you there!" 

Then she heaved a satisfied sigh and leaned against her seat. Chuck looked amused. 

"Good deed of the day done?" 

"Good deed of the day done", she agreed. 

It had been a fun deviation from normal. Even if it had been all kinds of illegal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to put a new kind of spin on things but dunno if I succeeded. Hopefully you liked it!


	3. The Wait

The aliens introduced themselves as mobians. It jogged something in Chris's memory and left her floundering for answers on the "Sonic Franchise" as she remembered it. There wasn't much. But it did give her a little bit of an idea on what to expect. This world was based on an anime adaptation because no other place had someone called Chris. She was the genderbent version of the human protagonist. She was slightly relieved. 

It would just be  _ weird _ to be in a  _ game world _ , as she'd thought at first. This… This she could work with. 

"Basically, you're stranded here", she said thoughtfully, "The way back is most likely found in Chaos Emeralds but you're not sure if they ended up here or if they're still on Mobius" 

Cream hugged Cheese with a worried frown. Tails noticed and put a comforting hand on her shoulder before turning to her. 

"Yes. But we  _ can _ find another way home too. I'm sure of it!", he declared. 

"Right you are, buddy", Sonic agreed looking at Cream with a grin, "Don't worry. We'll get you back to your mom!" 

Chris herself flinched internally at the realization that Cream was on an alien planet with no immediate way back,  _ without _ her parents. Or parent in this case. All of them were children far away from home, lost. ...Like  _ her _ . It made her resolve to fix this mess burn brighter. 

_...Oh _ , she realized,  _ I feel again.  _

_ 'You missed it, though' _ , Rina pointed out to chase her sudden dread away. 

The girl refocused on the problem at hand, "Okay, so. That shining light that brought you here. Has it happened before?" 

"Well…", Tails frowned, "Knuckles said it looked like Chaos Control. It's a type of teleportation done with a Chaos Emerald or Chaos Emeralds from what I can gather" 

"Okay. Good. Do you know what happens to the Emeralds after?"

Tails caught on to her train of thought, "Oh! It stays with the one who got transported!", the fox got more excited, twin tails wagging back and forth, "That means it's likely they ended up here!" 

"All right! One step closer to home!", Sonic cheered. 

Chris smiled. That was one problem less. It just left keeping the mobians' location and activities under wraps, checking if Dr. Eggman had been found anywhere, and deciding when and how to tell Ella the maid and Tanaka the butler about their new residents. 

xXXx

Chris went to school but didn't do so every day. There was no conceivable pattern to it except for the important days they had tests and things. She was still with her year group since her parents thought she should be with kids her age regardless of her grades. She didn't care enough to protest. At least teachers gave her advanced material. The pattern of school days was difficult to predict to deter possible kidnappers and stalkers. Tanaka usually escorted her, alternating between walking, taking bikes, and going by car. 

School seemed to confuse the mobians. In their world there wasn't such a clear line drawn between child and adult. If you could survive on your own and wanted to do it, people usually let you. Sometimes you didn't have the choice but people didn't really make it their business unless asked. Usually. To be honest, Chris would have preferred that to the culture she was stuck in. Being a child again and again was… constricting. 

Anyway. School was a thing and being apart from her new friends was confusing and relieving at the same time. It allowed her to take a breather from the forming attachment she had to them. And to examine her feelings further. 

_ 'Am I really ready for this?' _ , she asked Rina. 

She didn't reply at first. There was a contemplative silence for a bit. 

_ '...I think you won't ever be ready' _ , Rina admitted,  _ 'Just… do you really want to  _ stay _ like this?' _

Cut off, not belonging, fumbling for steady ground and people that  _ weren't there _ , not letting herself get emotionally attached to even her own  _ parents _ … No. She didn't. And she knew it wasn't an option now. 

She was… scared. So, so scared she would be forced to leave everything behind again. To go through the grief, the emotional turmoil of losing  _ everything _ . Again and again. The fear that she'd never  _ stop _ reincarnating, condemned to this special form of torment and happiness in ever repeating turns. It was too lonely. Chris doubted she'd be this intact if it wasn't for Rina's existence. 

The bell rang, signalling the end of the day, and she rose with her bags. There were distracted goodbyes and no attempts to approach her. She walked outside to get in the car and stared out the window as they neared her home. (no, not her  _ home _ , her home was long gone, separated into four different universes she wasn't a part of anymore) 

...Sonic had fallen in their pool three days ago. They had aliens under their roof and she was slowly accepting she had found  _ something _ like the peace of yester-lives in their presence. 

Perhaps… Perhaps it was time to accept them fully. 

"Tanaka?", she said and the sharp eyed man glanced over with a small questioning noise, "There's some people I need to introduce to you and Ella when we get home" 

It might not be her  _ home _ home, but it was the roof over her head for twelve years straight. Tanaka's posture seemed a little less poised now, more relaxed and… was he smiling? 

"Oh? Are they your friends?", he asked with… hope in his voice. 

Wow. She hadn't expected he'd care  _ that _ much that her social life was expanding. It was… eye opening. Chris turned to give him a small smile in return. 

"You know… I think they might be"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There now exists a CHRONOLOGICAL CYCLE LIST with LINKS! It's the 3rd chapter in ETERNAL CYCLE: MINDSCAPE which is the 20th fic in this series.


	4. Eggman Appears to Get Scrambled

Sonic liked going on runs with the excuse of looking for either Dr. Eggman or Chaos Emeralds. Chris thought it was more that he just loved running and exploring. What would be a better opportunity to explore than landing on an alien world? There just was a plus side to it in trying to find a way to Mobius. 

Anyway, Sonic liked to run off. He was a free spirit. Nothing wrong with that, he didn't even show up on satellites easily due to his incredible speed. That, and the satellites' inability to pick out something as small as an individual. Yet. The Tornado showed up on Area 99 security cameras which is how they knew that. If he did show up, well… She and Chuck were running an algorithm to let them know about that and to see and fix it if needed. They were also keeping an eye on the news and government movements. 

Things were… wild on gossip. Less so on the action part. That was nice. But it did give some need to keep track of where everyone was and what the world would do if they found out about them. 

Case in point, some way to call Sonic if something happened or the other way around. Tails was on board with development. 

She liked Tails. He got what she was talking about when she went on a techno babble spree. Even Chuck had a hard time keeping up, saying her ideas and wordings were out of this world. Ironic, considering they really, truly were. And it seemed Mobius' science was just a bit less wacky than in the world of phantom thieves. They got along great. 

"So the Tornado has a different mode? That's so cool. How's it work?", Chris queried as Tails showed her the fruits of his work. 

"Isn't it? You see-", he went on a tangent only Chris was able to follow with some clarifying questions. Chuck was lost a while back. 

In fact he was staring at her like a proud parent from across the room. 

"I'm so proud!", he declared to Mr. Tanaka and Ella, who had found out about the newest residents just yesterday. 

They were surprised. But not really shocked. Living with two inventors usually made people more inured to strange happenings or sudden explosions. Tanaka straightened his glasses. 

"Indeed. I too, am happy that Miss Chris has opened up"

Ella was mothering Cream on the side, watching the rabbit girl make a flower crown. She smiled in fond appreciation. 

"She's such a reserved little girl, it's such a relief to see her so in the present", she mused, "I hope we can see her like this more often now" 

Cream and Cheese looked between the adults and smiled reassuringly, "I'm sure we will! After all, she has all of us to help her be happy! Right, Cheese?" 

"Chao chao!", the Chao agreed, floating next to Cream's head. 

Just then something on the computer beeped. Everyone's attention was drawn to it as Chuck rushed to check what it had found. Video feed was clicked open and showed Dr. Eggman in all his glory landing a robot on a beach and declaring his sights were set on the city. It was shaky and cut off in places, the sound was horrid too. Everyone just kinda… stared. 

"That's him? His moustache is ridiculous", Chris commented detachedly. 

Tails' brows furrowed, a determined expression stealing over his face, "We need to stop him! It would be so useful to have that communication device ready now…" 

"Eh. Next time. We need plans. What's that robot? Have you ever seen one?", the 12-year-old went straight to business. 

"Not as such… It looks pretty tough. Firearms everywhere and the arms detach", Tails started muttering, "Chances are Tornado won't leave a dent either" 

"Hmm. Either Sonic shows up or we need more firepower. Or a different  _ kind _ of firepower…", Chris continued his train of thought, snapping her fingers, "We've got some liquid nitrogen?" 

"Wouldn't work. Eggman's machine is tougher", then Tails adopted a thoughtful look, "Except if we- Electricity, Chris! How much can we generate?" 

"Ooh, that could work!" 

And they started to run off… until Mr. Tanaka stepped in the way. 

"Miss Chris. I must protest you going off on your own. The military will handle-" 

"They can't. Guns won't work", Chris cut him off, "Tails and I have a plan and know more. Sonic will undoubtedly show up at some point to help. I  _ won't _ be alone and these people have been doing this far longer than any of us. I'll be  _ fine! _ ", she finished her rant and rushed past the master martial artist. 

Tails took the time to give the adults a worried but agreeing look before flying after the girl. She was efficiently taking out equipment and putting things together for Tails to finish up. Her expression showed her frustration though. 

They got to work, exchanging ideas and things. They built up two big nice EMP bombs in a matter of minutes. Then it was showtime. Chris grabbed a ski helmet on the way to protect her eyes from wind and to keep people from recognizing her. 

She got back to the Tornado just as Tails finished installing the two bombs. The adults were arguing. About  _ her _ . 

"Chris?", Tails watched her nervously, "It's okay if you stay here. I'll be fine on my own" 

Chris sighed, "Two pairs of eyes are better than one and you know it. I- I know they worry but- but this time I  _ care _ and  _ know _ we'll be fine", she looked to the arguing adults who had stopped to look at her, "I  _ want to _ do this. More than anything else I've wanted for… a long time. Please let me?" 

Tanaka's frown was a little scary, "Your parents wouldn't approve" 

Ella's gaze was worried, "They wouldn't, I know. But… This is the first time she's shown so much interest! Chris, If you truly feel you need to, then I won't try to stop you" 

Chuck chuckled and pat her head, "Just do what feels right. I'm proud of you either way, Chris" 

So she smiled and climbed aboard, helmet pulled over her head and goggles over her eyes. Tails started up the Tornado and they were off to help save the day. 

xXXx

Dr. Eggman was gloating over military vehicles when they got there. After releasing a planet wide message which was  _ bound _ to reach Sonic. Hopefully. The bot was on a skyscraper and could deal damage left and right if left unchecked. They needed to distract it. 

"Should we try normal guns first?", Chris asked as they neared the place. 

"There's no point, your world's military tried already", Tails' voice carried over the wind. 

"Then we've got two chances to freeze it and no guarantee it'll stop forever", she grumbled, "We need to play distraction until Sonic gets here" 

"Yup", Tails sounded a mix of determined and resigned. 

Eggman finally noticed them as they dove straight over him. He made the robot (apparently its name was Missile Wrist) focus on them which was good. It also made the robot  _ focus on them _ so they needed to focus on dodging instead of counterattacking. At least it wasn't aiming for more buildings or people. 

After a few rounds of dodging with Chris acting as secondary eyes, telling where o'clock and up or down the missiles were coming from. It let Tails focus more on finding the best time to dive in for an attack of their own. 

"I'm going in!", he informed her. 

"Two o'clock, low. Ten, up", she rattled back and felt excitement burning in her gut as they dodged, nearing the machine. 

Tails pressed the button. Try number one. There was a flash of light and the electromagnetic explosion grinded against the Missile Wrist. They flew a circle and Chris whooped in satisfaction as the halfway shot missile fell limply to the roof and didn't retract. The robot was frozen. 

"Nooo! Missile Wrist! Grrr… you flying furball!", Dr. Eggman didn't sound happy. 

That is, until Missile Wrist slowly came back online. The freeze had barely lasted twenty seconds. Ugh. The other missile aimed at them. 

"Three, middle!", Chris shouted with an adrenaline spike because this was brushing  _ close _ . 

Tails let out a war cry and lifted them in a sharp upturn. The missile missed. Barely. Then they were once again dodging things with narrow margin. Luckily Tails was an expert flier and Chris was used to giving directions. She'd been mission control a lot of times in her third Cycle. And a few times in her fourth. 

The roof door opened to reveal a red mobian. Chris blinked in surprise. Then a pink hedgehog with a hammer got out of the lift. She charged at the robot's leg and swung with all her might and a shout. 

"Amy!?", Tails cried out, both horrified and delighted to see her. 

"Now, Tails,  _ now! _ ", Chris yelled, afraid of the claw coming for Amy. The robot had stopped shooting at  _ them _ so this was the perfect opportunity. 

"Amy, get away!", the fox shouted as he shot the second bomb. 

The hedgehog wasn't too quick to obey but the red echidna was as he quickly dragged the girl out of the way. The Missile Wrist froze as the bomb hit. 

"It lasts for twenty seconds!", Chris informed the two mobians on the roof. 

The red one cracked his knuckles with a smirk, "Twenty seconds? Plenty of time!" 

"No, Knuckles, don't!", Tails shouted and the echidna froze, "It'll shock you!" 

Eggman flew over in his pod thingy and started laughing and gloating, telling them they had no way of stopping him as the Tornado was out of ammo. How he knew that, Chris didn't know, but it might've been the size of the bombs versus the size of the vehicle. He also threatened to shoot the crowds below if Knuckles tried to stop him. 

Just then Chris spotted a certain 'infuriating rodent' speeding their way. 

"Sonic's here!", she informed Tails. 

"All right!", he cheered, "Get a ring from that latch, it'll give him a boost!" 

And so they flew to give Sonic the means of easily taking the troubling robot down. Which he did. While taunting it. Knuckles gave him the idea of the robot slapping its own wrist off. It worked. Tails and Chris cheered as the robot was destroyed. Just then the military came to the roof with guns in tow. Chris didn't like them. They were  _ too _ eager to open fire. 

Luckily the Tornado had a rope ladder for whatever reason and they could get the mobians away. 

"We really need to get that communication device for you, Sonic", Chris commented as they flew, "Today could've gone badly for us" 

"You've got to work hard to get it up to speed then!", he laughed. 

Tails gave an affirmative and addressed the newer faces, saying they were making headway in finding the Chaos Emeralds again because they were positive they ended up in this world. That was their way back. Plus, there were three mechanical geniuses living in the Thorndyke mansion and the family could get pretty much any parts imaginable because Chris' father's company owned over 70% of the world's software and hardware production. 

Knuckles wanted to make headway into finding the Emeralds himself. 

"Hey, at least come for a while to catch up. We need more information and apparently you know the most about Chaos Emeralds", Chris pleaded, "I might have some ideas on where to look too!" 

Every head turned her way, "You do?" 

Well. She  _ had _ been a treasure hunting phantom thief in another life. Not that she'd tell them. Not yet, if ever. 

"There's some ruins and warded off places we could look into. I've been doing some research, looking for rumors and such. There's a few things that look promising", she said, "But nothing is for certain. We have a better chance of finding them all if we find one first" 

In the end Knuckles agreed to a kind of meet and greet. Grumpily, but he agreed. Chris came back home a happy reincarnated girl. 

(That is, until Tanaka got his hands on her reckless behavior. She pouted through it but promised to try making safer plans in the future) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically all that I've written for this at the moment. I dunno when I'm gonna get more done since the other Cycles exist too and I'm most focused on Child of Time and Relative Dimensions. 
> 
> I hope it once again put a new spin on the events! Thanks for reading!


	5. Free Falling Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first emerald is found!

Checking on government activities had become a twice a day activity for Chris and Chuck. Sometimes they weren't able to get anything, the government protecting sensitive things by not having them on the internet or anywhere they could force internet access. The things they wanted, however, weren't  _ that _ sensitively protected since some transparency was used for the whole Dr. Eggman debacle. 

That's how they knew the government had located Eggman's base to a southern island but hadn't truly caught on to where Sonic and co were living. They had guesses that were mostly correct but couldn't pinpoint it to the Thorndyke residence. It was a relief. They would have time to shift things to an accepting light for the family's alien friends. Knuckles hadn't been spotted either which was good. Chris  _ had _ given him a communication device before he left, though he hadn't used it. 

Anyway, checking anything and everything related to the events they found something promising. They got the news around the same time as the reporters which meant it wasn't common knowledge just yet. 

"Tails, Sonic! Look!", Chris ran into the living room with her laptop in hand, setting it down for them. 

Everyone gathered around, Amy shifting to let Cream and Cheese see too. It was just a picture of a text document but there was a rough sketch of a big gem at the bottom left corner. The story told of a machine going crazy and that the culprit was suspected to be the big green gemstone. 

"It's a Chaos Emerald!", Tails exclaimed happily, "Where is it?" 

Chris looked at the address and pulled up a map, "Wow, it's very close to my school at a renovation site" 

Sonic jumped up from the couch with a grin, "All right! Tell me where and I'll get it!" 

The girl easily went about showing a route on the map, Tails and Sonic watching closely. She suggested they tell Knuckles too. Who knew if Dr. Eggman had already gotten the information the same way she had? They did so straight away. Knuckles was pretty far from their location but he was eager to come along. 

"Tanaka!", Chris called out at the door once all the short explaining was over, "I'm going to school with Sonic! We're gonna check the department store's renovation site on the way!" 

Tails and Amy were taking the Tornado to see the situation in the air. The plane could connect to both Sonic and Chris' earpieces. Her butler and caretaker suddenly appeared to tell Sonic to take care of her. She rolled her eyes at the protectiveness but smiled as the hedgehog agreed anyway before neatly picking her up and speeding off. Chris couldn't help but let out an exhilarated whoop, making her ride laugh. 

They had to make sudden stops several times so Chris could give directions without them getting off course. And to keep out of sight. There were many people milling about and even more once they got closer to the renovation site. They decided to get a better view up a building so they wouldn't get spotted. 

Chris was treated to the absolute gut twisting treat that was scaling a building with pure  _ speed _ . She was giddy and grinning so wide it hurt as Sonic set her down next to him. 

"I get why you love running now", she told him as she crouched, digging binoculars out of her bag. 

"What can I say, it's cool", he rubbed his nose, and winked at her. 

She didn't pay too much attention as she frowned down at the crowd below. Or more specifically, at the camera crew and a familiar reporter called Scarlet Garcia who was doing her job. The girl frowned. 

"Well, now everyone who watched the news knows the emerald is here", she said, "We can't take it now. It'd be too noticeable and put you guys in a bad light. That's what we definitely  _ don't _ need" 

Sonic crouched next to her to take the binoculars. Except he looked everywhere. 

"Hmm…", he hummed thoughtfully before grinning, "They don't need to know it was  _ us _ . Don't worry, I can get in and out  _ no _ problem" 

She blinked up at him, "You saw it?" 

"Not exactly. Let's go!", and he picked her up again, speeding down the side of the building before she even had time to yelp in protest. 

xXXx

Sonic had them hiding in the construction site within a moment. Chris took in her new location in a surprised split second before recovering and looking around. She saw a blue plastic sheet covering a large area and instantly understood what Sonic had seen. The story had said machinery went crazy near the emerald. It'd make sense if it was vacated from machines then. 

There were lots of humans milling about, though. She frowned. 

"I'm still not sold on this. Are you  _ sure _ you'd find it before anyone saw you?", the girl hissed. 

He was about to reply, a confident smirk on his face, before he abruptly shoved her further in their hidey hole between building parts and building. She grunted as quietly as she could while falling on her bum from her crouch and looked at the hedgehog flatly. Someone had probably looked their way. 

"Okay, maybe not", he agreed. 

Chris righted herself and crawled to peek around the obstructions. No one was watching. She leaned back to put a hand on her chin, thinking. Pieces flitted around in her mind and slowly formed a picture she could grasp. A solution. 

"...If Eggman didn't know where the Emerald was before, he surely knows now. Which means he's coming here and all these people are in the way", she muttered, making Sonic's brows rise as she continued, "It's best if we wait for him so we have a better chance of protecting everyone. Much easier to grab things in a chaotic situation anyway. If he leaves now it'll be- uhh" 

Some mental math later she had an estimate of a quarter hour. The girl pressed the call button on her hidden earpiece and told Amy and Tails to report any Eggman's vehicles that were bound to come within the time limit. She was going to be late for class but that wasn't an unusual occurrence. She'd planned to go an hour late today anyway. What was one more missed lesson compared to this? No one wanted to give potential stalkers more than they already had anyway. She confirmed with Chuck because she didn't want to summon Tanaka into this mess. 

Sonic was staring. 

She blinked, finally stopping her calls, "Huh?"

"You're pretty strategic, aren't you?", Sonic stated bemusedly. 

" _ Someone _ has to be", she retorted with a teasing grin. 

Then they waited. Quietly. Sonic started tapping his foot. At an unreal speed that just increased as he went. She let out a silent sigh and gave him a wry smile. 

"I can handle things here. You could go watch for Eggman" 

The suggestion was well received as he just quickly told her to call if there was trouble before suddenly disappearing with a gust of wind and a flash of a blue streak. She stared at the spot for a second before raising her hand up to the back of her ear to tell Amy and Tails that the hedgehog was joining them up on the roofs. Tails was extremely unsurprised. Chris was just glad they'd gotten the communication devices done. 

Only a few minutes later, while Chris was scanning the crowds and wondering for possible places the Emerald could be, Tails contacted her and said Eggman was heading their way. Or, more likely, Sonic's way who was acting as a running beacon for the madman on the roofs. 

She herself was hearing screams and terror and footsteps from the crowds and looked from her hiding place to see everyone running away. Leaving the Emerald unguarded. That was… a much more extreme reaction than she thought they'd have. Maybe she should've. This wasn't her last world where nonsense was the norm. 

Anyway. She rushed in to pull the tarpaulin away and searched the Emerald with her eyes. Nothing. Just dirt. She wouldn't have  _ time _ to dig everywhere and her mind raced for a solution even as it battled with doubts. 

"Think,  _ think! _ ", she whispered to herself as she crouched and started brushing dirt away without any other clear thing to  _ do _ . 

Then she stopped. Because… she was  _ certain _ that… The girl jumped up and raced over to where a corner of the tarpaulin had been. Just after two digs she saw a green glow. More than that, she  _ felt _ it. Her hand trembled slightly as she touched it. Warm. And yet cool. A shock through her senses that opened up something she hadn't even been  _ aware _ of. And then she had very much trouble seeing anything at all while feeling  _ everything _ swamped in the overwhelming contrast of chaotic clarity. 

_ This _ was a Chaos Emerald, brimming with power, and  _ she could feel it _ . 

Swallowing she took a deep breath and let it out,  _ making _ the new and sudden sense quiet down and  _ kept _ it down with Rina's help. Then she determinedly picked it up and turned to leave and call Sonic or someone because there was  _ no way _ she was holding it longer than absolutely necessary. Not with this…  _ new _ thing trying to overwhelm her senses. 

She bumped into someone and promptly jumped back. Then stared up at the hulking cross armed figure of Dr. Eggman. 

_ 'Why haven't I recreated my jump boots?' _ , she despaired to Rina who was busy keeping her focused on seeing and not feeling. 

"I think you have something that belongs to  _ me _ ", he offered his hand with a toothy evil smile, as if expecting her to give it just like that. 

Chris smirked with confidence she didn't feel and jumped back to start running, ignoring Eggman's calls to 'come back you brat'. She vaulted over a wall and decided her best bet was smaller streets. It had the problem of being  _ far away _ but she couldn't risk hiding in such an open area as this. She lifted a hand to her ear as she ran. 

"Sonic, Tails, I've got the Emerald-", she said and ignored Amy's cheer in the background, "-but Eggman's chasing me in his hover thing" 

" _ Keep running, I'll be there as soon as I can! _ ", Sonic told her over rushing wind and a grunt, making her certain they were fighting Eggman's robot right then. 

"How long?", she asked urgently, shifting her backpack and stashing the Emerald in the secured pocket, holding it up front. It freed some of Rina's concentration. 

The answer was lost as she had to duck under Eggman's grabby hands and vehicle that almost threw her at a wall. She was near a pretty tight alley that would require a bit of maneuvering for the man and she ran into it with renewed speed. He was surprisingly, or not that surprisingly, agile in his round flying hovercraft and Chris was growing desperate for options. She once again wished for her jump boots. 

There was a fence ahead, she kicked off a trash can and tried to jump over but a big hand clamped on the back of her shirt and she was suddenly flying. She cried out in shock as the ground pulled away and a man laughed in the background. Tails was trying to get an answer out of her but she was afraid to let Dr. Eggman know she could contact them. She focused on grabbing the side of the vehicle and holding her backpack  _ close _ . 

She didn't pay attention to her big moustached kidnapper's patronizing words. She placed her foot against the side of the hovercraft to anchor her and focused on not falling. And not letting the hand get her backpack. The back of her shirt had been let go of and she was now wholly supported by her feet, the momentum of the vehicle, her other hand, and Dr. Eggman's attempts to pull her backpack away from her. 

"Let.  _ Go! _ You foolish. Child!", the madman ordered her. 

"I'll  _ fall _ if I do, stupid!", she retorted back, at the same time giving her friends information on what was happening to her. 

Tails was already reassuring her that Sonic had beaten the robot and was now chasing them across rooftops. That he and Amy were on the way too. She looked down for a split second to see the rooftops were pretty far down and getting even farther. Eggman took her lapse of inattention to wrench the bag towards him. It dislodged her footholds. She was now almost fully dangling from the backpack. 

Which was hiding her face. Huh. 

"Sonic", she whisper shouted over the wind, certain Eggman couldn't hear, "Can you catch me if I fall now?" 

" _ What!? Chris-! _ ", Tails protested. 

" _ Yes _ ", Sonic confirmed readily and that was all she needed. 

Bracing herself, she made her feet run up the side of the hovercraft, kicked herself into a flip while hitting Eggman's hands off her backpack, and fell. She spread her free limbs wide to stop her spinning and shut her eyes tightly, waiting for impact. It was dangerous. Extremely so. Tanaka wouldn't be happy. But it was exhilarating and the twisting of her stomach felt pleasant. She wasn't afraid. She  _ trusted _ Sonic, trusted her friends, and she wouldn't be  _ her _ if she didn't. 

She  _ knew _ Sonic wouldn't let her die now. 

And he didn't let her down. It felt like a short eternity, like always when her senses heightened to this point, but the impact came and it wasn't concrete. A hand caught her head, passed under her legs, and for a split second she was still falling until the speed slowed. Until it sharply twisted to a new direction. 

"Got her!", Sonic said and it echoed through her earpiece strangely. 

Shakily, Chris lifted her hand to turn it off and slowly let her locked and trembling muscles relax. She opened her eyes to see him grinning down at her, green eyes twinkling. Buildings went by so fast she couldn't see and if she didn't know better she'd think she was still falling. 

"You alright? That was super brave!" 

"Fine. Thanks", she managed through the adrenaline, "...Still need to get to school" 

"That's _ what you're worried about!? _ ", Amy's voice crackled through the comms. 

Sonic laughed, Tails joining in after a while, and Chris giggled. This was turning into the best day of her life. Well,  _ this _ life. Adrenaline rushes like that were rare. Her ride promised to get her to school in a bit. After everyone was sure she was okay. She pouted through the questions on if she was feeling faint or anything other than two small bruises until people were satisfied and Sonic once again picked her up and flashed her to her school gates, promising to get Tanaka to come in three hours after school ended. He took the Emerald with him to Chuck and Tails which was a relief. 

Chris sighed, content. Now was time to get through the end of an arts and crafts lesson, an easy English lesson where she'd assist the teacher a lot, and a PE class with basketball that she'd have to slow down in. Better than some other days, she guessed. 

This day's events gave her a conclusion too. She needed a way to defend herself, or at least run away. She'd held off on making the jump boots because she was still growing and didn't want to remake them every year and because she simply hadn't  _ needed _ them before this. Now it was clear she'd have to deal with the yearly annoyance but it would be well worth it. 

Perhaps she could also invest in a sword of some sort. 

_ Hmm… Maybe I can finally try making a lightsaber.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. Bye bye original plot. I used some of you but you were too boring to keep fully. Doesn't fit my reincarnating OC anyway. 
> 
> Chris is kind of an adrenaline junkie if you didn't notice. And some of it is fueled by not really caring enough for her own life. She'll live anyway, right? That's her unacknowledged thought process when making some of her decisions. 
> 
> What did you think? I quite liked writing this chapter for some reason.


	6. Springing a Picnic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggman makes a trap, and Chris and co go have a picnic in it.

Chris could sense chaos energy. Great. Fine. Perfect. If it wasn't  _ so distracting _ . Even with the distance to the Emerald she was starting to notice there was a little bit of chaos energy everywhere. It seemed to float in the air and swirl around like wind in certain places. Streaks of it flowing past her or  _ through _ her at the strangest moments. 

It was a new sense. Something she'd have to learn to live with, like she'd learned chakra and magic in her other lives. This just… it was different. Like she was connected to a web that could get twisted and pulled at and she was just a little bead attached in the middle. She could feel the energy waves and tremors of the general surroundings but had a hard time differentiating where it had come from or how intensely. Like people could feel wind on their skin but wouldn't really truly know where it had been or how it shifted directions. Let alone affect how much of the wind they  _ felt _ . 

There was also the fact that no humans really had chaos energy. She could lowkey feel it in a very close proximity but that was just some general energy clinging to them, not originating  _ from _ them. 

The mobians were a different story. 

She hadn't felt it when carted around by Sonic because the Emerald was close and a much  _ much _ bigger chaos energy source than her new friends. One strong enough to crash into her brain and just…  _ change _ how she perceived the world. She wasn't very happy about it but reluctantly accepted it could be an asset and not just a hindrance. 

Tails and Cream had some chaos energy clinging to them. It was more than people on Earth but still small compared to their  _ innate _ energy. Amy had just that littlest bit more. Sonic seemed to be bursting with it. Knuckles had about as much as Sonic except his was smooth and controlled, not wild and overflowing.  _ Cheese _ had the most. It didn't surprise her as much as she thought it should. They all were like echoing signals going off at her depending on how far away they were, how strenuous the things they were doing were, and she theorised they might also be connected to their moods. 

Not that she got anything then distracting pulses from all around her at the moment. She was slowly getting used to the Chaos Emerald's steady stream of infinite pulsing power, like a heartbeat, but all the bursts of energy that randomly shook through her weren't appreciated. Especially when she was trying to work on her newest projects and needed a steady focus. 

Knuckles had been the most help with that even if he hadn't stayed long. The echidna told her he could feel Chaos Energy too when she complained and promptly proceeded to teach her meditation based on old scriptures that he'd read in his home. He was the guardian of the Master Emerald and was attuned to it specifically. It was most likely disconcerting to  _ not _ feel the Emerald when it was his duty to keep it safe. 

He had guided her through the steps of getting her sense under control. Right now it mostly consisted of letting it become familiar enough to ignore which was grating. She couldn't help that she was human and thus didn't have chaos within her to help with the process. 

On the upside she could now tell when someone approached her. Not immediately but when they got close she was hyper aware of their presence. Mobians she could even feel a room away. At least their general direction. She wasn't good at pinpointing anything in the chaos that was chaos. Yet. According to Knuckles she could be, as she seemed to feel it even more than him. 

Speaking of Knuckles… apparently Eggman approached him. He called them to say the man had tried to convince him  _ Sonic _ had wanted to transport them here, which he  _ knew _ wasn't true due to everyone going over the events that had landed them on Earth to catch up. Eggman had captured Cream and Cheese so it wasn't the  _ Emeralds _ Sonic had invaded the base for. 

This lead to everyone being confused at what the man's plan was. Chris asked the echidna if Eggman knew he didn't believe him. Turned out he wasn't sure. He'd almost believed the start of the story but then finally just told him to shove off because he could handle his and Sonic's disagreements on his own. 

Anyways, later that day Amy watched the news and saw them reporting about interference in machines that was similar to the Chaos Emeralds. She interrupted Chris, Chuck, and Tails in their work of trying to pinpoint where exactly the waves originated from. 

"It could be a Chaos Emerald or then Eggman's trap", Chris said to Amy who wanted to check it out, "And either way Eggman will be there. I'm informing everyone" 

"Oh, don't worry about Sonic. I can tell him!", the pink hedgehog took upon herself, forgetting Chris could just call him. Bemused, the girl let her. 

Tails let out a pleased noise as a slight beeping sound originated from their locator, "I got it! There it is, near the lake!" 

Chuck and Chris leaned over to look. Indeed it seemed the source was at the lake, if not  _ in _ it. They all looked to each other. If it was  _ in _ the lake… Well. Sonic wasn't going to like this trip. 

xXXx

Tanaka took it upon himself to be their designated driver as the Tornado wouldn't really be able to land there and only had two seats. A protesting Chuck was going to stay at home to rest and be taken care of by Ella, who had made them a wonderful picnic basket. Even though they weren't strictly going there for a  _ picnic _ . Cream and Cheese opted to stay behind to help Ella keep the house clean and nice. Sonic was napping too and decided to leave when they were almost there. Apparently car rides were boringly slow. Knuckles said he'd meet them there but no one was quite sure when he'd arrive. 

So it was only Chris, Amy, and Tails who went in the car. Amy was pouting because she couldn't sit next to Sonic. Chris and Tails were discreetly going over their arsenal. Chris' jump boots weren't done yet and she only had some ideas for a sword so those weren't a thing. They'd fit in a few EMP grenades, a pepper spray bottle, and some smoke bombs. Nobody but Chuck really knew they'd made some. 

Another matter was just how useful or useless those were going to be against Eggman and his robots. At least the smoke bombs would let them run away if needed. 

Perhaps they wouldn't even be needed. Pretty much everyone was coming. It was a pretty good looking lineup against the mad doctor. 

xXXx

"Okay, Sonic", Chris said to her earpiece, which she basically wore all the time now, "We're nearly there" 

She could hear a yawn from the other side, " _ Yeah, I'm coming _ " 

The girl chuckled as she terminated the connection, turning to look at Tails who was flying up and looking around. Amy was impatiently stalking her way up towards the lake while Tanaka walked just behind Chris. She looked up from the road as Tails dropped next to him, a contemplative frown on his features. 

"Can you feel anything?", he asked. 

She let out a sigh through her nose and shook her head. At this distance they could say it was improbable a Chaos Emerald was nearby. They'd tested her range regarding an unshielded Emerald and it was… pretty long. A mile or so. Then they'd stuck it in a machine that would stop it from interfering with electronics and it had shrunk drastically. Or, more likely, changed into another form. A more… blanket feeling. She didn't feel anything like that here. 

"Oh", Tails was a little disappointed, which was understandable, "I think I saw Knuckles gliding in the horizon. He'll be here soon" 

That was just as well. Chris was already fingering the smoke bomb in her pocket. They were at the edge of the trees now which meant they could be visible for Eggman already. 

Sonic appeared next to her with a gust of wind, making her jump slightly as chaos energy washed over her. 

"Hey, Chris", he greeted with a grin. 

"Well, I guess we can spring the trap now", she muttered quietly after returning his thumbs up. 

A hand landed on her shoulder and Tanaka's shadowed face loomed over her, "You aren't planning on participating, are you Miss Chris?" 

It was times like these Chris kind of wished she hadn't bolstered Tanaka's martial arts obsession by giving him access to masters and practicing with him. It gave him an unfair advantage in keeping her where she was. She was short and young and hadn't put all her effort into learning everything again. That had made her think of her pasts, her family, and everything hurt too much so she stopped. 

She also kind of wished she hadn't. It would be useful in situations like these. 

"... _ Fine _ . I'll stay here", she gritted out petulantly. 

_ 'For now' _ , Rina completed the thought for her. 

Sonic looked amused at their interaction, "Gotcha. Don't worry, we'll sort it out. Let's go!" 

And Tails, Amy, and Sonic burst out of the bushes and into the clearing with the lake, leaving a pouty Chris behind. It didn't take long for a giant robot to appear out of the water. Eggman flew in from  _ somewhere _ and started taunting everyone. Sonic threw taunts back, Tails right behind him. 

Chris was starting to see the two had a deeper connection than the other mobians. Cream and Cheese came to mind but they weren't  _ quite _ that attached. It was more like brothers who were also best friends. She… she missed that type of connection. A lot. 

Rina nudged her thoughts in order and they started thinking of ways to interfere if needed. 

Eggman's robot had a large shovel which tried to scoop up Amy and Tails. Sonic was quick enough to interfere and Tails made the arm freeze with an EMP pulse grenade. This one modified so it just froze the target and didn't include electricity running through the thing too much. Unfortunately it had a smaller range so only the shovel was locked. 

They all used the time to attack. Amy's hammer wasn't that effective on the glassy prison like thing of the robot but it worked wonders on joints. Tails flew Sonic up and let him crash on the robot from above, making it fall. 

It was down. Eggman didn't seem concerned. That's what set Chris most on edge. 

"Careful, guys", she said into her earpiece, "It might still-" 

She was cut off by a blast hitting the tree next to her, chaos sense flaring in response as she ducked and pulled Tanaka down. Eyeing her surroundings warily she saw smaller robots appearing left and right. Gulping, she started fingering her own weapons. How she wished for that sword and jump boots… 

"Did you think I wouldn't notice your little human friends?", Eggman boasted, "You thought you were so  _ clever _ hiding from me. Well. Who's the clever one _ now? _ " 

The bigger robot started moving. Chris threw down a smoke bomb and let Tanaka grab her into a run, throwing an EMP grenade behind her for good measure. The butler was dragging her towards the car. She didn't want to go  _ there _ . For one, if the robots destroyed it they'd have to either go via train or Sonic could carry them one by one. Except she didn't want to burden the hedgehog with that. 

So she yanked her hand free and went towards the clearing instead, Tanaka having no choice but to follow. A chaos wave blurred her senses and she knew it was Sonic doing something speedy. Some crashes were heard in the smokescreen so it was him smashing some robots. 

Amy screamed ahead and Chris looked to see the giant robot shoveling her up. Tails was flying but the other one grabbed him out of the air. Both were dumped inside the glassy prison. Eggman turned to her and Tanaka and she ushered them behind a rock. 

"Don't think you can hide from me!", the mad doctor yelled, "Pumpty, attack!" 

She grit her teeth and covered her ears as the thing fired at the rock in front of them, smashing at it with frightening force. 

" _ Eggman! _ ", was another familiar angry shout as Knuckles smashed into the robot's weaponry, "Release them!" 

Maybe some of that chaos wave had been  _ him _ instead of Sonic. 

"Knuckles. Of course you decided to join the party…", Eggman sounded annoyed and resigned. 

"Don't forget about  _ me _ , Egghead!", Sonic yelled as he crashed into the robot's new legs, making it crash to the ground again. 

Amy and Tails were still inside. They both had earpieces as Tails and her had made more so they could luckily still talk to each other. 

" _ Sonic, help! _ ", Amy said through the comms, " _ I. Can't. Smash this. Stupid.  _ Glass!" 

Each word was punctuated by a loud bang. A little muffled, Tails yelped that she was destroying his eardrums. Knuckles was the one to reply this time. 

"I got this", he growled and jumped to bang his fists against the prison. 

Chaos rippled. A webbed crack appeared on the sturdy material. Knuckles jumped away just in time for Amy to smash it open with a war cry. That instant Tails flew out and grabbed her with him. Eggman was shouting denials and commanding his robot to start launching missiles. 

The two were easy targets. Chris' heart pounded. 

"Sonic-", she didn't get to say the desperate command to the end before the hedgehog had already ran up and grabbed his friends out of danger, landing next to Chris and Tanaka's hiding place. 

She sighed in relief and grinned at his thumbs up. Tails shook himself off at the abrupt change in location and Amy threw herself into Sonic, seemingly relieved. 

_ Wait, where's Knu-  _

_ 'Hitting missiles back  _ at _ Pumpty' _ , Rina relayed the info, seemingly fascinated. 

Chris risked a peek, and sure enough, the echidna had hit back many of the missiles. The robot looked much worse for the wear and Eggman looked furious. 

"Finish him, Knux!", Sonic cheered from the side with Amy's arms wrapped around his neck in a hug. 

Knuckles smirked, dodging missiles and bullets before jumping on it. He smashed his way through, definitely making it incapable of functioning. Then he jumped at the Egg Mobile and punched  _ that _ , making Eggman fly off into the sky.  _ That _ was a clear win. 

Chris whooped as she jumped out from behind her rock, "That was awesome, guys!" 

Everyone agreed with enthusiasm and gathered up, Chris smiling and feeling alive again. Tanaka straightened his glasses as he too stood. Expression serious as always. 

"May I suggest getting the picnic basket here to celebrate", the butler said. 

"Oh! Good idea!", Amy instantly agreed and let go of Sonic to rush towards the car with him. 

Tails was eyeing the remains of the robots with curiosity. Chris joined him and started thinking of all the uses these exotic parts could have. Especially considering her latest projects. And one idea she wanted to try. 

"Wanna go look?", she asked the fox. 

"Yeah. Maybe we'll find something useful!" 

And so the two descended on those. 

This left Knuckles and Sonic alone in the middle of the somewhat altered landscape. Sonic was smiling fondly. 

"They're all so full of energy", he said. 

"Says Mr. I-Can't-Sit-Still-For-Five-Seconds", teased the echidna, arms folded and a corner of his mouth quirked up. 

"Hey! I can too!", the speedy hedgehog protested. 

This led to a friendly sort of banter as they started walking around to look for a nice eating spot. Well, Sonic was looking. Knuckles just went with. When Sonic found a nice shady unblemished batch of grass  _ far _ away from the lake's edge he walked past. Sonic noticed. 

"You're not staying?", he asked. 

The red Mobian lifted a hand up as a goodbye wave in answer, "Call me if you need me. I've got Emeralds to hunt" 

The hedgehog stared after him for a short while before shrugging in acceptance and smiling. He leaned against the base of the tree and decided to continue his interrupted nap. Adventures like these were fun but it was nice to just kick back and relax too. Knux didn't know what he was talking about saying he couldn't sit still for long. 

He came back to full wakefulness only when his friends came back with Ella's delicious food. 

It was nice. Even though it wasn't Mobius and they were stuck here, it wasn't so bad with company like this. If Knuckles wanted to be alone that was fine by him.  _ He _ would rather keep his friends near. 

xXXx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this done. Yay! No idea when I'll get the next done tho. Didn't really check this over so there might be mistakes too. 
> 
> Hopefully you enjoyed my take on Cracking Knuckles! Core concepts stayed the same but some alterations are here and there. Just like the previous one. 
> 
> Yeah, Chris has a new unwanted sense now. She'll get used to it. Probably. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and for all kudos and comments! I appreciate them and your thoughts on this.


End file.
